China’s airports jockey for position in busiest airport ranking

The ranking of China’s busiest airports has seen major reshuffle in 2015 following fierce competition closely as regional economic growth and transformation picks up.

The ranking of China’s busiest airports has seen major reshuffle in 2015 following fierce competition closely linked to the speed of regional economic growth and transformation.

2015 China Airport Throughput Rankings

Airport

Passenger throughput (trips)

2015 ranking

2014 ranking

y-o-y growth

Beijing Capital Airport

89,940,000

1

1

4.4%

Shanghai Pudong Airport

60,080,000

2

3

16.3%

Guangzhou Baiyun Airport

55,210,000

3

2

0.8%

Chengdu Shuangliu Airport

42,000,000

4

5

11.5%

Shenzhen Baoan Airport

39,720,000

5

6

9.5%

Shanghai Hongqiao Airport

39,070,000

6

4

2.9%

Kunming Changshui Airport

37,650,000

7

7

16.8%

Xian Xianyang Airport

32,650,000

8

9

11.6%

Chongqing Jiangbei Airport

32,390,000

9

8

10.7%

Hangzhou Xiaoshan Airport

29,300,000

10

10

14.8%

Xiamen Gaoqi Airport

22,000,000

11

11

5.4%

Nanjing Lukou Airport

19,160,000

12

16

17.7%

Wuhan Tianhe Airport

18,940,000

13

13

9.6%

Changsha Huanghua Airport

18,670,000

14

12

3.6%

Urumqi Diwopu Airport

18,510,000

15

15

13.5%

Qingdao Liuting Airport

18,200,000

16

14

10.9%

Zhengzhou Xingzheng Airport

17,300,000

17

17

9.4%

Sanya Phoenix Airport

16,190,000

18

18

8.3%

Haikou Meilan Airport

16,170,000

19

19

16.7%

Tianjin Binhai Airport

14,310,000

20

24

18.6%

Dalian Zhoushuizi Airport

14,150,000

21

20

4.4%

Harbin Taiping Airport

14,050,000

22

23

14.8%

Guiyang Longdongbao Airport

13,240,000

23

22

5.7%

Shenyang Taoxian Airport

12,680,000

24

21

-0.9%

Fuzhou Changle Airport

10,880,000

25

26

16.3%

Nanning Wuxu Airport

10,390,000

26

25

10.4%

Beijing Vs Shanghai as China’s top aviation hub

Shanghai overtook Beijing to become China’s largest airport hub in 2015. Shanghai’s Pudong and Hongqiao Airport together put through 99 million passengers, compared with Beijing Capital Airport’s ninety million passenger throughput and the estimated passenger throughput of less than six million at Beijing Nanyuan Airport. Air cargo throughput at Shanghai was almost twice as much as Beijing’s. Shanghai’s airports are expected to maintain high growth after the opening of the Shanghai Disney Resort in June 2016.

Overall airport growth faster in the west than in the east

The airports in China’s western regions have been seeing more rapid growth in recent years than those in the eastern regions, and the growth rates of the airports in the east were highly varied. For example in 2015, Shenyang Taoxian Airport saw a decline and Guangzhou Baiyun Airport grew less than 1%, while the growth rate of Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, Beijing Capital Airport and Dalian Zhoushuizi Airport were under 5%. Yet Shanghai Pudong Airport, Nanjing Lukou Airport and Tianijin Binhai Airport achieved growth rate of above 15%. In the western regions, other than Guiyang Longdongbao Airport with a growth rate at just 5.7%, all the other airports in the region chalked up growth of above 10%.

Air transport grew faster in China’s western regions as ground transportation in the region is under developed, and the vast distance of the region makes air transport a comparatively suitable option.

Regional governments are concerned with whether their local airports can become regional aviation hubs and spur the city’s economic development and competitiveness. At the same time, the central government’s 13th Five-year Plan calls for accelerated development of a national network of hub cities to form new economic growth areas and spur regional development. Having a hub airport is instrumental to the regional governments’ endeavor to be a hub city. As a result, competition among regions to be hub airports and hub cities will be fierce.(Translation by David)